GOLDEN — Defense attorneys for the suspect in the murder and kidnapping of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway have waived his right to seek a transfer to juvenile court.

Austin Sigg, who turns 18 in 52 days, will be tried as an adult.

The judge in the case also ruled Tuesday that Sigg will be transferred fromMount View Youth Services Center, where he was being held in isolation, to county jail, where he will be in a special housing unit.

"It's clear in this case that the adult facility is the appropriate place to keep Mr. Sigg," District Judge Stephen Munsinger said.

Sigg is being held without bail and faces 17 counts including 11 related to the abduction and killing of Jessica, including first-degree murder after deliberation, three counts of felony murder, second-degree kidnapping and robbery. The charging documents also allege that Jessica was a victim of sexual assault and that her attacker used force during the assault.

In the case of a female jogger Sigg allegedly attacked earlier, the six counts include attempted first-degree murder, attempted kidnapping and attempted sexual assault.

Advertisement

Division of Youth Corrections officials testified at the hearing that the youth facility presented safety problems not only for other children in the facility but for Sigg himself.

Some residents of the youth facility had made comments about what they would do to him if they had access to him, said Dave Maynard, who oversees the Lakewood facility where Sigg has been housed since shortly after his arrest.

Austin Sigg (Provided by Jefferson County Sheriff's Office)

The facility houses boys and girls, ages 10 to 20. Parents of children being housed in the facility expressed concern about the danger Sigg posed to their kids.

Sigg was held in an isolation room under constant supervision, Maynard said.

Authorities indicated that a more suitable location for the "mature and intelligent" teen was in the a special unit in the adult facility where he would be kept separated from adults but have educational and recreational opportunities he wouldn't have at the youth facility.

But Sigg's public defenders expressed concern that the adult jail poses a serious threat to his safety.

Sigg has not violated any rules at the youth facility, he hasn't tried to escape and he has not harmed other residents or staff, said Katherine Spengler, his attorney.

"We very much oppose this transfer," Spengler said. "He has not been a management problem."

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story